


cause i know a love that will never grow old

by Pericardiaca



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Brokeback Mountain Fusion, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Anal Sex, Angst, Camping, Emotional Constipation, Fluff, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, M/M, Sheep, honestly idk what to tag bc there’s just sheep and maxiel, there was only one tent, theres a spider but max fights it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:19:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23375146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pericardiaca/pseuds/Pericardiaca
Summary: When Dan has to take over his dad’s sheep farm he’s desperate for some help - so he hires Max, a backpacker looking for work. Together they care for Dan’s herd, even camping with the sheep out in the open for a while, but lambing season brings complications...A Brokeback Mountain Maxiel AU featuring Simi and Brocedes and lots of sheep.
Relationships: Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen, Kimi Räikkönen/Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton/Nico Rosberg
Comments: 40
Kudos: 143





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [simplyverstappen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplyverstappen/gifts).

> I don’t know what possessed me, but I wrote this entire fic in two days. Mone, this is for you, because you listened to me complain and helped so much and inspired me in the first place!! <3
> 
> Please don’t use this fic as a manual to raise sheep. I’m a clueless city girl, and I apologise for any inaccuracies. Just saying. 
> 
> Also, the plot is partly borrowed from Brokeback Mountain and the lesser known (but better) God’s Own Country (which if you’re into this fic you’re going to LOVE, would recommend, it’s on Netflix! lol). Sorry for any remaining typos! 
> 
> Let’s let the sheep loose, then.

When Dan woke up, the shrill alarm of his phone blaring right next to him, he desperately kept his eyes closed for another couple of moments until the shrill ringing had gotten too much. It was way too early to be awake, but the sheep needed to be checked upon, and there was a hole in the fence that needed mending.

Rubbing his eyes, he slowly crawled out of his bed and stumbled into the bathroom. His bleary-eyed mirror image seemed to begrudge his most recent life decision, but Dan ignored it, and busied himself with his tooth brush instead. Yet the sense of dread that had settled over him as soon as he'd opened his eyes stayed; even when he had gotten dressed and while he fought the most honourable fight with his coffee maker. 

The bastardly machine came straight from hell, Dan had decided, and its sole purpose was to drive him mad. For some reason it would not stop pouring coffee and Dan had already filled two cups; now trying to catch the steaming hot liquid with his cereal bowl. "Oh, bloody hell!", Dan cursed at the machine, but it remained unimpressed. "How much water can there be left inside of you?!" 

With a gurgle, the coffee maker stopped, and Dan poured the unsightly mix of coffee and cereal down the drain. 

"Fucking hell." Dan gave the espresso machine the stink eye and moved to the kitchen table, hugging one of the coffee mugs close to his chest. He needed to focus on the positives. Dropping out of university to take over your parents' farm isn't something you do every day, and certainly not an idea most people would ever entertain, even for a second. But Dan loved the farm. He'd grown up here, he'd been happy here as a kid, and then he'd left for college and a career and financial success - and now he was back. 

He was confident that this was the right decision, but he was still terrified and battling his doubts. While he was sipping his coffee (it tasted a little like soap. Weird) Dan scrolled through the pictures his mum had sent him yesterday to remind himself why he was doing this. There were pictures of white beaches and palm trees, and his dad in swim shorts and sunglasses, and Dan smiled. It was good to see them happy. 

His dad had injured his back a couple of months ago and had needed surgery. Something with his spine, a herniated disc, he hadn't really understood what it was - the important thing was that the surgery helped relieve pain, and that his dad was doing okay. But Joe needed physical therapy and working on the farm would put too much strain on his back, so after a long talk with his parents and some soul-searching on the bottom of rather a lot of beer bottles Dan had decided to take over the farm while his parents would go on a rehabilitation retreat. Joe's back would be treated by professionals, and both of his parents deserved the holiday. 

So now it was just him, the empty farmhouse and a myriad of sheep. 

"Come on, you can do this!", Dan said to the last sip of his coffee, chugged it down, and slammed the mug back on the table. "Let's go!" 

He took a deep breath and put his phone in his pocket before he ventured out of the cool house into the morning sun. It was a lovely day, and Dan pushed the nagging worries about his future and career out of his mind. He was here now, he'd made the decision, and the sheep needed him. 

Whistling 'Sexy And I Know It' like it was goddamn 2011, Dan walked over to his quad and revved up the engine. It wasn't a particularly long drive but Dan loved it. His dad had bought it for him specifically, the quad was a little more on the sports side rather than the utility side of 'sports utility vehicle', but it did a great job getting him around their land. 

The sheep had gotten used to the sound of Dan arriving on it by now, and barely lifted their heads. 

"Good morning you little buggers", Dan greeted them cheerfully. "Anyone tried to break out of the paddock tonight? No? Well, thank fuck for that!"

He opened the gate to let them out of the paddock area with a barn where they stayed during the night, and the herd started to bleat loudly - Dan's sign to take a step back, right before the herd trampled through the gate and out on their grazing land. 

Dan counted them, content that all of his sheep were accounted for, and watched out for any signs of injuries. Today everything seemed to be in order though, so he left them to their own devices and went to fetch the necessary tools to repair the fence on the other side of the farm. 

He returned to the shed next to the farmhouse and dug around his dad's supply of wire mesh. The wooden poles of the offending part were salvageable, but the wire mesh had ripped out and needed replacing. After he'd found everything he needed and loaded it on the trailer he'd tow with his quad, he made his way over the farm land, detouring to make sure the sheep were still doing alright. 

It was a lot, to juggle all the duties the farm came with, the animals, the machinery and repairs - Dan didn't understand how his parents did it all by themselves all the time. Of course Dan had helped out when he was a kid, and even after he'd gone off to college he'd always made sure to be home in time for the shearing and lambing seasons. But all the day to day work? It was exhausting. 

Dan had actually put up an ad advertising the vacancy for a farm hand to a job board geared towards backpackers, but he'd not received any applications yet. After he'd gotten rid of the ripped wire mesh of the fence and readjusted the wooden poles he took a break to pull out his phone and check his emails. Still, nothing. 

With a deep sighs Dan opened his camera instead. He grabbed a cut off piece of wire mesh and held it in front of his face so it would look like he was trapped behind it. Snapping a quick selfie he sent it to his dad with the caption _the sheep finally got the better of me_. 

"That doesn't look like farm work to me, lad!" 

"Hnngh!" Startled, Dan almost dropped his phone in his hurry to turn around. "Oh, Mister Hunt, you've scared the living daylights out of me!" 

It was his neighbour James. He was in his forties, and he owned the farm next to Dan's together with his husband Niki, who was the Austrian business owner of an airline. Dan had never really understood why they'd choose the farm life when they were clearly rich enough to afford a downtown Sydney apartment and all the glitz that came with that lifestyle. Even though Dan didn't really understand their life choices - not that it was any business of his to judge them for that anyway - he really liked James and Niki. 

James laughed and took off his hat, a giant ugly cowboy hat with the outline of Texas stitched on at the front. "Didn't think I'd meet you out here today. Didn't you say you want to take the sheep further out on the farm to change up the grazing grounds?" 

"Yeah, I really want to, but I can't without any help", Dan replied. "I've already put up an advertisement online but for some reason no one's replied yet." 

James furrowed his brows. "That's weird. Have you tried a newspaper ad yet?" 

With a laugh, Dan shook his head. "What? No! No one reads newspapers anymore, Mister Hunt." 

"That's not true! Niki reads them. Daily", James remarked slyly. 

Dan picked up his water bottle, weighing it in his hand. "Not sure if that counts, but you might be onto something. It can't exactly be more of a failure than the online ad."

"That's the spirit!" James moved his head to point to the broken fence with his chin. “Do you need a hand with that?”

“Ah, that’s so nice of you to offer, man, but it’s okay. I can take care of it.” Dan smiled and threw the water bottle from one hand to the other. “I’m almost done anyway.” 

But James only gave him a Look and put his cowboy hat back on. “Come on, it’ll be faster if I help you, and then you can go put up that newspaper ad.” He jumped over the fence, landing softly on the dried out grass next to Dan and reached for the new wire mesh. 

Dan continued protesting for a bit, before he caved and accepted James’ help. It really was a lot easier with a second set of hands. When they were done James let him go with a paternal pat on the shoulder and only after promising to drop by for dinner soon. 

Now that he’d finally gotten ahead of his workload a bit, Dan hurried back to the farmhouse to figure out how on earth one put an ad into a newspaper. He was fairly certain he’d once read that you needed to go to the post office for that... 

#

Max cursed under his breath when he knocked every single bag of white bread off the shelf.

“I’m so sorry!”, he shouted across the small corner shop. “I’m gonna pick it up!” 

With several more curses he carefully put his giant backpack down - it was _big_, half as tall as Max when he stood next to it, and then cleaned up the mess he made. Thankfully the pre-packaged bread was fine and he simply stacked it back onto the shelf. 

“Are you okay?”, a voice asked. It was an young woman with a small child in her arms. The child smiled brightly at Max and babbled something incoherent. 

Max nodded quickly. “Oh! Yeah, it’s fine, I’m just an idiot and forgot I’m twice as... uh, long? With the backpack.” 

The woman laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m glad you didn’t hurt yourself. Where are you from?” 

Putting the last white bread package back on the shelf, Max awkwardly ran his fingers through his hair. “From the Netherlands. I’m here for a year of work and travel, but I’ve not found any work yet.” 

“Wow, all the way from Europe!” The woman sounded genuinely impressed. “How come you’ve not found work yet? With your amazing English it should be fairly easy!” 

Max shrugged. “I dunno. I want to work on a farm but all the online ads I applied to never got back to me.”

The woman shifted the baby from one hip to the other. “Hm. Have you tried looking at the newspaper? This part of the country still uses them pretty extensively.” 

“No... I wouldn’t even know which newspaper to check! I’m not familiar with the local ones I’m afraid.” 

“How about I help you? Come along, I’ve got a couple by the register!” The baby made a loud garbling noise at that and the woman smiled. “This is Jack, by the way, and I’m Susie!” 

“I’m Max. And I’d love to take a look at your newspapers!” He followed Susie through the deli, dragging his backpack behind him since there was not enough space to put it back on.

“Here”, she said and put a newspaper in front of Max. “Do any of these sound like you might like them?” 

_Looking for a farm hand to help with the sheep and some maintenance work. Experience not essential but must be willing to camp in almost-outback conditions since the animals like to move away from the farm. By this I mean snake/spider sightings very likely. You will have your own room in the farm house though. If this sounds good please contact me at dansfarm@hotmail.com or phone in!_

“Actually”, Max said after having read the ad, “this does sound really good. Should I message them right away?” 

Susie leaned over and scanned the ad that had piqued Max’ interest. “There’s a phone number too. Call him!” 

Max pulled a face. “Must I? Surely by eMail is better... I don’t even know this person’s name! Maybe they’ve already found someone...” 

With a stern expression Susie picked up a cordless landline phone and held it out. “So this is the reason why you’ve not yet found someone, Max. Call him. I suppose his name is Dan, considering the email, but talking is always better than sending emails.” 

Slowly reaching for the phone, Max whined: “But... everything goes over email these days! What if I don’t understand his English?” 

Susie rolled her eyes. “Come on, lad. You’re going to understand him just fine, your English is great. Go ahead!” 

A deep sigh and several beeps later, Max was nervously tapping his foot on the ground and waiting for this mysterious farmer to pick up. 

“Hello this is Dan!”, a cheerful voice greeted him from the telephone. 

Max immediately froze up. “Uhhhh- hi, I’m - this is - I call because of the ad!” 

“Oh, really?” 

“Yeah!” 

Max blinked rapidly when Susie started to gesture vividly. “Say your name!”, she mouthed. 

“Right, so, my name is Max Verstappen!”, Max said awkwardly. “Is that position still available? For the sheep?” 

“Sure it is! And you’re interested?” 

“Yeah. Uhm. Do I have to come by for an interview, or-?” 

“Ah, do you have a couple minutes right now? I’ll just want to clear some things up if you don’t mind.” 

“Eh, I-“ 

“Take your time!”, Susie whispered and waved at him. 

“Yeah, I have time”, Max said into the telephone. 

“Great! So, how old are you? And where are you from?” 

“I’m 22, I’m in Australia for my work and travel year. I’m from the Netherlands and I’ve just been backpacking through the country until now.”

“Sounds great. Have you worked on a farm before?” 

“No, but I’m willing to learn! Especially the camping sounded great. Like a good experience. But I’ve got some other skills, I like to tinker on cars and am fairly good with machinery in general. And I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty.” 

“Awesome, Max. This sounds really good. When are you ready to start?” 

“... right now?” 

“What?”

Max crunched up his face. “I actually haven’t even checked into a hostel for tonight yet, so really, whenever you want me to come, I’m ready.” 

“Oh.” There was a pause, and Max could hear some clattering in the background. “Where are you right now? If you want, you can start tomorrow.” 

“I’m in Perth in a convenience store. Is there a bus going out to you?” 

Dan laughed on the other end of the phone line. “I’m afraid not. I can pick you up, though, whenever you want. Tomorrow? Or even tonight, then you’d not have to pay for that hostel.” 

“How soon can you be here?” 

“In an hour?” 

“It’s a deal. I’ll pick you up in an hour. Can you give me your phone number, just in case?” 

Max could. “Thanks, mate”, he said whole-heartedly. “See you soon.” 

“My name is Daniel Ricciardo, by the way!”, Dan suddenly added. “But yeah, bye!” 

The line beeped. 

“Daniel Ricciardo”, Max repeated, and looked up to where Susie was sitting with Jack behind the register. He gave her the phone back, a little overwhelmed by the velocity with which his life had just changed. 

“Is that his name?”, Susie asked with a smile. 

“Yeah. Wow. Thank you so much, Susie. This was super helpful, and so kind.” He smiled back at her, still a bit shaken. 

“No worries, dear. Happy to help.” 

They kept chatting for the hour it took Dan to show up at the corner shop, and Max left with the promise to drop by should he end up in this part of Perth again. However Max also took the time to google a thing or two about sheep - quickly giving up when his search for ‘lamb’ revealed several recipes instead of the sheep 101 info he’d been looking for. He was still dragging his backpack out on the pavement when finally a big red jeep pulled up next to him, honking twice. 

“Hey!”, a voice called out. “Are you Max?” 

Max nodded, holding onto his damn backpack and turned around. And what he saw left him breathless for a second. The driver of the jeep - that must be Dan - was... hot. Dark, curly hair, tan, a bright smile and a jawline to die for. Then he pushed up his aviator sunglasses into his unruly hair and beamed at Max. 

Max could feel the moment his heart stopped, and started beating again, but just like that he knew he was in trouble. However he brushed that feeling aside and nodded.

“Yeah, I’m Max! You’re Dan, I take it?” 

Dan laughed. “That’s me, right here, your personal taxi!” He took one look at Max’ backpack and then added. “Do you want me to load that up for you? What are you lugging around with you to have such a giant backpack!” 

Shrugging, Max picked it up. “It’s got everything I need! But I can handle it, thanks.” 

Dan opened the door to the jeep and jumped out. “Alright then, I’m glad you’re staying fit by hauling that thing around, though, you’ll need that upper arm strength for the farm. You still sure you want to do this? This is moving really fast.” 

Max nodded. “Definitely still up for it. I’ve been looking for the right opportunity for weeks, seems like I’ve finally found it.” 

“Great! Go on then.” Dan opened the boot of the jeep and stepped away to let Max lift his backpack in. “I just have one final question before we can go.” 

“Yeah?” 

“What do you think about spiders.” 

Max chuckled. “Spiders? I mean, I don’t particularly like them, and you’ve got some truly nasty ones in Australia, mate, but I suppose as long as they don’t bite me I don’t mind them. Why? Do you have a pet tarantula or something?” 

Dan’s eyes went comically big at that suggestion. “Oh heavens, no. Don’t you worry about _pet tarantulas_, Jesus.” 

With that, he climbed back into the jeep. “Let’s get you to the farm, then.” 

They spent the half hour drive with smalltalk, Dan asking about Max’ travels through Australia, Max asking about the farm. Dan explained what shepherding skills Max would learn - from hoof trimming to catching a rogue sheep.

After they arrived Dan showed him around the farmhouse and to his room, and confessed to his sub-par cooking abilities; revealing a mostly empty pantry and the burnt pot he’d been planning to use for a spaghetti dinner. Max volunteered to make the spaghetti and even magicked together some kind of tomato sauce with fresh basil. 

It was a pleasant evening, and rather anti-climactic after the quick agreement between them where Dan left him to his own devices after a while and went to his room to play a video game. Fair enough. Max made it to the shower and his new bed before he started to panic a little. 

He was in Australia, on a farm, finally with a job. That was good. He had no idea what he’d gotten himself into, had no idea who Dan was (hot and charming, yes, but they were about to live and work together for an indefinite amount of time!), and most importantly this was a commitment. He’d managed to avoid exactly that for the entire time he’d spent in Australia so far - but thanks to Susie he’d faced his indecisiveness and picked a job, and now all that he could do was make the best out of it. 

#

When Dan’s alarm woke him up - just as shrill and early as every morning - he almost fell out of his bed in his haste to get to the bathroom. It was great to have help now, and he’d made plans yesterday night on where to take Max first. They’d do a health check on the sheep and he’d just follow his routine to take Max along on it. The station needed cleaning, so Max would probably have a rather unpleasant introduction to sheep husbandry. 

But first, coffee. 

Dan was fighting the good fight with his coffee machine again when Max came down the stairs. His hair was slicked back, his cheeks still reddened from the shower. He smiled at Dan, and gratefully accepted the mug of coffee that Dan was holding out. Honestly, Max was pretty cute. Under different circumstances Dan would’ve considered hitting on him, especially since it’s been a while for him. But as it was eye candy was all Max would be. Good eye candy, though. Really good. 

“What the actual fuck did you do to this coffee?” 

“... What?” That came entirely out of left field. 

Max was looking at Dan like he’d betrayed him. “The coffee! It tastes like soap!” 

Dan took a sip from his own coffee. He’d actually been fairly proud at how it had turned out today - no mess, no hot liquid spillages, he’d even put out cream and sugar for Max in case he wanted it. “It’s... fine?” He took another sip. “It might be the coffee machine”, he conceded. “It’s got some demon possession issues.” 

“Sorry?” Max looked at him like he was crazy. 

Dan hid his face behind his hands. “I can’t really work the coffee machine, I don’t know, it hates me. I’ve decided it must be possessed by the devil considering it actively tries to not give me the one thing I want in the morning...” 

That made Max laugh. “Okay, that makes sense.”

“A much more reasonable assumption than me being the problem behind it”, Dan agreed. But he also pointed at the machine and offered: “If you want you can take a look. Maybe you can figure out what I’ve been doing wrong? The coffee’s always tasted a little funny, but I suppose I’ve gotten used to it.” 

Max did not hesitate at all and got up, emptying his coffee into the sink first. Rude. Then he opened the coffee machine’s drawer for the beans and the cylindrical water compartment and sniffed both. 

“Do you add anything to soften the water?”, Max asked sceptically. 

“No... I use that cleaning agent over there though.” 

Max grabbed the blue bottle of cleaning agent and sniffed that too. “Hm”, he made, and then put his empty mug underneath the machine and pressed a button. The espresso machine rumbled and spit out a stream of dirty water. 

“So, when was the last time you used the cleaning program?” 

Dan pulled a face. “The what?” Another gargle from the machine, and it beeped. Max only turned around to smirk at Dan. 

After drinking the first coffee in a long time that actually tasted like coffee, Dan was in a great mood. He took Max out on the quad - Max loved it and Dan decided to get his dad’s old quad out of the garage so Max could have his own. They made it over to the paddock with the sheep in it and got to work. Counting them, and then starting the health check, Dan showed Max how to screen them for ticks, lice and maggots, and explained what a healthy sheep was supposed to look like. 

“It’s important that we take a closer look at the last sheep through the gate”, Dan explained. “Sick sheep are more likely to hang back, so especially if it’s an individual that’s usually one of the first to storm off to feed we gotta make sure there’s nothing amiss.” 

Max listened intently. He had no clue about sheep apart from knowing that they’re cute and woolly, so this was all new knowledge to him. 

“Another important thing to watch out for is their appetite. If they don’t eat, they’re likely sick. Sheep are always hungry, unless they’re cud-chewing, of course.” 

“What’s that?”, Max asked. 

Dan smiled, he was in his element talking about the sheep and explaining their behaviour. “It’s when they... barf up a bit of food and chew it again, to put it simply.”

“Oh, like a cow!” 

“Well, yeah.” Dan shrugged. “It’s called rumination when they produce the cud. The sheep regurgitates it and chews it for a second time; and it’s really important that the sheep eats the right diet. For example grass, weeds, hay and silage - sheep do eat grain too, but it’s much like candy to them. They eat to much, their stomach starts hurting.” 

“Relatable”, Max commented. 

They let the herd out of the paddock when they were done, and it was already early afternoon by then. 

“Let’s go eat a sandwich”, Dan proposed. “We’re going to clean out the barn after this, and I need to eat before I start to shovel shit.” 

Max agreed, and they went back for a quick lunch before they started on the barn. The dirty hay had to be taken out before clean, fresh hay could come in, and it was a smelly, sweaty job. 

“Do you already regret signing up for this?”, Dan asked when Max stepped into a particularly disgusting pile of hay. 

“No”, Max gave back, surprising himself. “It’s so different from what I’m used to, I actually enjoy it.” 

Dan raised his eyebrows. “You do?” 

With a shrug, Max shovelled more hay to the side. “Yeah, sure. It’s the first day, and I knew farm work would involve things like this. I may be a city boy, but I’m not completely clueless, you know?” 

Dan grinned. “Maybe. I know you know your coffee machines.” 

“See!”, Max exclaimed, delighted. “On a more serious note - I’m surprised by how lonely it is. I don’t know what I’ve expected there, but the afternoon is winding down and you’ve mentioned so many things we still have to do - or could do, I guess, or have to do tomorrow. I can see why you need the help.” 

The sun really was starting to sink lower and lower, and the bleating of the sheep reminded them that they needed to be let back into their paddock. 

“I’ve been meaning to get a herding dog for ages”, Dan told Max when they finished with the hay and shooed the sheep back in. “It would make so many things so much easier, but we’ve not had a dog since my dad’s old lab died. I wouldn’t know how to train it properly. Plus, working dogs are fairly different from a pet, so...” 

“I can imagine that. My sister has one of those tiny lap dogs, so I really wouldn’t know anything about that either”, Max said. 

Dan cocked his head to the side. The slowly setting sun was illuminating Max’ face, his hair had fallen out of his gelled style and was actually curling up a little, and also sticking in every direction. He’d gotten a little colour in his cheeks, not that he’d been pale before, but still. “Do you miss your family?” 

Max bit his lips and looked to the ground. “I miss my sister, and my mum. My sister wants to come visit sometime while I’m down here. She’s into cars, you know, she wants to be a formula one driver. Racing cars. The whole shebang. She’s a badass, and she’s totally gonna make it. She’s already in formula 2!” 

Even though the context clues clearly told him that Max’ dad was a sore spot, Dan was too curious not to ask. “And your parents?” 

“My mum is okay. She’s busy with her life.” Max hesitated. “My father is an asshole.” 

That was a statement Dan could live with. “Sorry to hear that, man.” 

Max shrugged. “It’s okay. What about your parents?” 

Dan pulled out his phone when they finally made their way back to the quad. “My dad hurt his back, he’s currently on a rehab thing for it. Physical therapy and all that. This farm is his baby, he came here from Italy and built it from the ground. My mum helps, of course, but she deserves her holiday... she’s with him, they’re on this island retreat for it.” 

They left it at that and after a final sheep count they returned to the farmhouse, Dan feeling very content about his decision to hire Max. This could’ve gone a lot worse, but he was great help and easy to talk to. Maybe his decision to drop out of college wasn’t the worst thing that’d ever happened to Dan. 

#

Max cooked again. 

He was pretty sure that this would be his new role, considering Dan thought eating cereal for dinner was an acceptable meal. But that was okay, he enjoyed it, and they had picked up fresh eggs and vegetables from their neighbours on the way back to the farmhouse. Dan had said that the neighbours were nice and would expect them for dinner some time soon, but Max had stayed in the car when Dan went in to talk to them. He was still a little bit shy - and yes, okay, that was unusual for Max, but he didn’t want to intrude. 

He had literally arrived yesterday, after all, and he was still trying to adjust. The omelettes he’d made for Dan and him were a big step in the right direction though - Max had not realised how hungry he was after this day of hard work. 

Still, he offered to take care of the dishes while Dan could go take a shower; mentally already planning planning what he’d still have to do before he could go to sleep. Waiting on his turn in the bathroom Max sat down in the living room. It was cozy and very spacious, with a fire place (ironic considering the Australian climate... or did it get cold here in winter? Max would find out soon enough, he supposed, considering he was going to be here for a while). The leather sofas were a light brown and there were more cushions on them than Max could count. The walls were decorated with colourful art prints, Max only recognised the Van Gogh sunflowers though. 

The entire farmhouse made Max feel very at ease. He fit in here, and it was so much better than at home. It was a weird mix of feelings, being new and adjusting but also feeling like this was where he belonged. 

A sudden scream interrupted Max’ musings. 

Before he could even react to it Dan came running into the living room. He was naked, and still screaming at the top of his lungs, and dripping wet. 

“Max! Help! Oh my god!”, Dan screeched, his arms flailing and making water droplets fly everywhere. 

Max finally jumped off the sofa, wiping the water drops off his face. “What’s going on!”, he screamed back, Dan’s panicked mood infecting him. 

“There’s a fucking spider in the shower!” 

Dan was standing there, not even covering his modesty, dripping a puddle on the wooden floor and looked like he was trying to stop himself from jumping into Max’ outstretched arms like a damsel in distress. 

“Make it go away! Please!! It tried to attack me! Tried to _eat_ me!!”, he added, still on the edge to hysterics. 

Max took a deep breath and tried to avert his eyes from Dan’s crown jewels.

“Okay, there’s a spider? Is it poisonous? Did it bite you?” 

Dan shook his head, and suddenly blushed deep red. He grabbed a couch cushion and held it in front of his crotch, apparently his modesty had come back. “I just hate spiders”, he admitted in the most miserable tone of voice Max had ever heard. He immediately felt bad for Dan, even though he was still busy trying not to stare at Dan’s chest, or his abs, or his arms, or the way a spattering of dark hairs disappeared behind the couch cushion- 

“Do you want me to take care of it?”, Max asked, relieved that Dan hadn’t actually been attacked by the spider. 

Dan nodded. “It’s a really fat one...“ 

Max suppressed a grin and finally let his gaze wander up and down over Dan’s body. “Do you want me to fetch you a towel?” 

Dan closed his eyes in embarrassment and laughed. “I mean, would be good, but don’t trouble yourself.” 

With a little smirk, Max went to the bathroom and grabbed Dan’s towel, throwing it at him. He had followed Max in a safe distance, and was now rooted to the spot outside of the bathroom. “Be careful! It might be venomous!” Dan had wrapped the towel around his hips and was now clutching the sofa cushion to his chest like a child would a teddy bear. It was adorable, especially with his tousled wet curls hanging in his forehead. 

“Venomous?” Max looked around for a weapon and located Dan’s flip flop. 

“Yeah”, Dan explained, carefully pointing to the shower. “It’s over there. Spiders and stuff are venomous because they bite, things you eat are poisonous like a mushroom or something.” 

Max was holding the flip flop like a baseball bat in front of him and pulled back the shower curtain. “I did not know that. That’s that special Australia knowledge I guess.” 

“I wish I wouldn’t know it!”, Dan complained. “Be careful, it’s up there in the corner.” 

Up there in the corner was the biggest spider Max had ever seen. 

“Ewwwwww!”, he screamed, and jumped a good foot into the air, raising the flip flop to defend himself if necessary. 

“Kill it!”, Dan screeched back, now holding the couch cushion in front of him like a shield. “Kill it, Max! You told me you can deal with these beasts! Do it!” 

Max stared at the giant brown spider in terror. “I’ve never seen a spider this size before! This thing is at least as big as fucking Aragog from Harry Potter! As Shelob from bloody Lord of the Rings!” 

“Full points for pop culture references!”, Dan yelled back. “Now, channel your inner Samwise Gamchee or Frodo or whoever and murder it!” 

Max raised the flip flop and stepped into the shower to do the deed, but had to realise he was a little too short. “I can’t reach it”, he announced. “If I slap it and it falls onto my head I’m going to die.” 

“If you don’t kill it it will eat me in my sleep!”, Dan said. “Do you want that to happen?” 

“Do you know you’re insanely dramatic?” Max grabbed the cleaning bucket from underneath the sink and turned it upside down, stepping on it like on a little footstool. 

“I’m not dramatic, I am having a moment of very manly fear”, Dan argued. He was watching Max’ every move and also kept an eye on Shelob. 

Max rolled his eyes. “Whatever, mate.” He held the flip flop over his head and tried to hit the spider at full force, but it jumped to a different corner. “Oh shit!”, Max cursed, and lost his balance on the bucket, falling backwards and dropping his only weapon. 

Dan jumped into the bathroom and caught Max before he could hit his head in the shower. “Are you okay?!”

Max climbed out of Dan’s arms - strong arms, he noted, very strong arms, nice bicep, warm and strong and smooth, had Max mentioned the bicep yet - and composed himself. “Uh-huh”, he made in agreement. “Fucking spider.” 

Dan looked up into the corner and let out a squeak when he realised the spider had raised its legs into an attack position. Or defence position, probably, considering. 

“What now?” 

Shrugging, Max picked up the flip flop again. “Maybe we can trap it with the bucket? Or shoot it? Do you have a gun?” 

That made Dan frown. “This isn’t bloody America. I’d much rather you just slapped it with the thong.” 

Max almost choked when he heard that. “The _what_?!” His mind readily supplied an image of Dan’s naked body in a thong. He hadn’t yet seen the backside but the missing spots were filled in by his brain and he had to swallow dryly. 

“The shoe!”, Dan hurried to explain. “They’re called thongs here!”

Looking down at the flip-flop, well, the thong in his hand, Max groaned. “You people really have to have giant ass spiders _and_ freaky expressions.” 

“Sorry”, Dan apologised, not sounding sorry at all. “Now would you _please_ do something about our little problem?”

“I don’t know”, Max gave back and squinted up at their little guest. “I’m starting to like her to be honest.” 

“What!” 

“I’ll trap her and bring her outside. I can’t kill her.” 

Dan sighed, a long drawn-out sound that sounded like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. “I can’t believe this. But okay, go ahead.” 

Max grinned, and picked up the bucket, abandoning the flip-flop in its favour. He quickly pushed it over Shelob, and then shook the bucket until a soft ‘plop’ indicated that she’d fallen in. “Can you give me a towel please?” 

With a long suspicious look at the bucket Dan handed Max a fresh towel from the towel rack, and then quickly stepped back. 

“Thanks.” In a fluent motion, Max pulled the bucket away from the wall and threw the towel over it, effectively trapping Shelob inside. “I’m going to bring her out. Do you want to finish your shower?” 

Dan wanted to. Max got rid of Shelob and got through the rest of his evening routine without another incident, unless some extra time in the shower that involved his hand and thoughts about Dan’s body counted as an ‘incident’. Max had been worried about having interesting dreams, but he was so tired that he slept like the dead as soon as his head hit the pillow; and it stayed like that for the rest of the week while he got used to his new life. 

#

“We’re going to have to take the sheep out”, Dan announced one morning, roughly a month after Max had joined him on the farm. They’d settled into a comfortable routine with each other, getting up early to tend to the sheep and do all the necessary work with easy chatter between them. Both of them liked video games, so they often talked about that, or their favourite movies, and in the evenings, after Max had cooked for them they often played together. 

Dan had enjoyed it to have someone by his side, even though he constantly had to resist flirting with Max. But there was no need to fuck up an awesome friendship just because he was horny. The sheep were more important than his personal needs, and he’d be able to take care of that as soon as he got back to uni when his parents would take over the farm again. 

“Oh?”, Max asked, slurping up the last bit of milk in his cereal bowl. 

“Yeah, I like to say we going into the outback but really, it’s just a part of the farm that’s not fenced in and there’s dingoes out there.”

That made Max freeze up. He had yet to actually encounter a dingo, but he’d heard lots of horror stories about them preying on livestock. “That doesn’t sound good. Why can’t the sheep stay on the farm?” 

Dan shrugged and bit into his toast. “They’ve been grazing on the land closest to the station for quite some time now, they need fresh grass and the movement is good for them too. Especially the ewes like to move away from the main part of the farm from time to time.”

“And are the dingoes a danger?” Max had no idea how to fight off a wild dog, or if he’d even have a chance against one. 

With a big grin, Dan looked Max up and down. “To you? No.” 

Max narrowed his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“That you’re much too big to end up as a Dingo snack, Maxy”, Dan laughed. He’d picked up on the nickname somewhere along the way and it had stuck. “They’re smaller than you think they are, and generally don’t attack people. At least not fully grown able-bodied adults. Especially not two of us, and I promise to protect you.” 

Sputtering indignantly, Max exclaimed: “Ey! I can take care of myself, Mister A-Spider-Makes-Me-Scream!” 

“I can admit to my shortcomings”, Dan gave back coolly and wiggled his eyebrows. “But in all seriousness, they’re mainly a danger to the sheep, and even then only if one gets separated from the herd. That’s why we’re there, to keep them all together.” 

“So we’re basically playing cowboy?” 

Dan nodded. “Yeah. Camping out there with the sheep, making sure none wander off. I’ve not seen a dingo in ages out here anyway, the government does a lot to keep them at bay but you never know in areas that aren’t fenced off.” 

“I see”, Max replied. “Well, guess we’re going on an adventure, then.” 

For that adventure they packed a tent - Dan only had one tent, they’d have to share - and supplies like food and some tools. They loaded everything on the trailer that Dan could tow with his quad, and Max threw a couple of blankets on it as well. If he had to sleep on the ground he’d at least be cosy while doing so. 

“I think we’re ready to go”, Dan announced around mid-morning. “I’m just going to call my parents to tell them we’re off, we might not have a mobile connection out there.” 

Max nodded, and leaned against the quad while he waited for Dan to finish his phone call. He loved the quads, and it reminded him of a weekend a couple of weeks ago where Dan had pulled out his dad’s old quad from the garage and had raced Max on it. They’d figured out a make shift race track around the farmhouse and along the small creek that separated their property from James Hunt’s and his husband’s, around the windfall orchard and then back in between the sheep station buildings.

They’d probably scared the living hell out of the poor sheep even though they’d kept their distance to them, but it had been the most fun Max had had in ages. They’d agreed on three laps and with the reddish brown dirt swirling through the air, trailing behind their quads Max had won by a nose. He’d climbed on top of the quad and declared himself world champion of quad racing while Dan had stood there, his ripped jeans and flannel shirt dirty, clapping and cheering for him with the most sincere happiness. It had made Max feel warm all over; to be at the receiving end of such profound candour after a heartfelt little competition was special.

Dan had broken out a bottle of red wine after that, and they’d sat down on top of the quads, drinking and laughing and watching the sun set while they waited for the adrenaline rush to subside. Max had absolutely loved it, and he hoped that their little adventure would bring forward more of such moments between them. He wasn’t sure how Dan felt about him - there were looks, and Max was neither blind nor stupid - but he also knew that Dan’s priority was the farm, and he was the farm hand after all. He still felt like they were not only employee and employer, not only friends but like there was a special connection between them that surfaced in the more intimate moments of their working and living together. 

Max was interested in exploring that. 

He was pondering on how exactly he’d like to explore Dan in a more physical way when the object of his fantasy walked back out, startling him out of his reverie. 

“Ready to go, tiger?” 

Max cleared his throat and squinted at Dan. “You’re an embarrassment.” 

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’”, Dan gave back cheerfully and climbed on top of his quad. They’d only taken one, so Max had to squeeze on it as well, behind Dan and with his arms wrapped around Dan’s middle. Max loved and hated it at the same time because it was undeniable that it turned him on to be this close to Dan, and to have to trust him to get them where they needed to go. 

Max grunted his agreement, and off they went. It was a slow process at first until the sheep had realised that they were going to move, then the herd started to storm ahead like there had been a secret signal. 

“How do they even know to follow each other like this?”, Max asked, his face almost tucked into Dan’s neck. They were trailing behind the herd, trying to direct them to the gate that would lead out of the fenced farm area, out into the open land. 

“It’s their flocking instinct”, Dan explained. “From an evolutionary perspective it’s helpful because a predator has a much harder time to pick out an individual. So when one sheep moves, the rest just follows - there’s safety in numbers.” 

“How do they know which sheep to follow though?”, Max asked. He observed the sheep bleating at each other and blindly following along wherever the first couple of sheep went. Thankfully they reacted really well to Dan directing them with the quad. It was impressive to see Dan handle an entire herd on his own like this. 

Dan pointed to the frontline of the herd. “They just follow whichever sheep is leading. There’s a couple that are a little more ‘dominant’, if you’d like to call it that. If there’s a ram, it’s usually him leading the herd.” 

“Hm”, Max made. “That sounds kind of... stupid.” 

Dan rammed his elbow into Max’ ribs. 

“Ow!”

“Sheep aren’t stupid.”

“You’re stupid!” 

“Love you too, Maxy.” 

Even though Dan said it with sarcasm clear in his voice, the sentence made Max choke on his own spit. Dan didn’t seem to notice, though. 

“Their flocking instinct is just really insane. When they’re grazing, they just like to stay close, so as long as they see other sheep, they’re going to stay calm. But if one starts running the entire herd follows - and if the leading sheep falls over a cliff, unfortunately the herd will just follow too.” 

“That’s sad”, Max said, distracted by the tragedy Dan had just painted with his words. 

“It’s life, I suppose.” 

They stopped shortly after that to let the herd rest and graze.

“How far out are we already?”, Max asked when Dan started to unload the tent from the small trailer. 

“Far enough to stay here”, Dan gave back. “Catch!”

The rolled up tent smacked Max right in the chest when he was too slow to raise his arms. “You bastard!” 

Dan cackled loudly, and continued to do so for the entirety for the time it took them to put the tent up. 

“I fucking hate camping!”, Max exclaimed when one of the tent lines ripped just when he’d put in the last tent peg. It had smacked him in the arm, and he was rubbing the sore spot while Dan doubled over with laughter. 

“All this ruckus is going to scare the poor sheep”, Dan tried to say in between bouts of laughter, but his words weren’t very discernible considering his chortling. 

Max sulked around while Dan fixed the tent and watched the sheep. They were staying close to each other and in a distance to the tent where they were still easy to see, they seemed content with their new location. 

Except - except one that was slowly wandering off.

“Hey, Dan?” 

Dan grunted in response, but he was busy putting together a makeshift stove with the camping gas burner and a small pot he’d brought along to heat up their dinner. 

“Dan, there’s a sheep escaping.” 

“Oh shit!” Dan quickly dropped the pot and jumped up. “We better catch that little bugger!” 

Max followed Dan as they ran towards the lost sheep. How fast could a sheep run?! 

“It’s the damn hogget again!”, Dan called out, and then looked around. “And I forgot to take the crook!”

“The what?!” Max had a bit of trouble to follow Dan and the sheep. The sheep was running at full speed now, clearly panicked since it had lost sight of the rest of the herd - and considering Dan and Max, two fully grown predators, were sprinting after it it must feel threatened as well. 

“The crook! The shepherd’s stick!!” Dan was panting too, and tried to criss-cross the sheep’s path. 

“I know that!”, Max gave back, even though he hadn’t known that either. “What’s a hogget?! Is that an Australian curse word?” 

“No, it’s the sheep!” Dan sounded pissed off now. “A lamb that’s a year old already. Listen, we need to surround him. We’re fucked with all this open space!” 

“Okay, so I go where?” 

Dan checked the area, but it was all open space, a couple of trees and patches of knee-high grass. “You follow behind the sheep, I’m going to approach it from the side!” 

“Like a wolf attack?”, Max asked. He’d seen a documentary about a wolf pack in Yellowstone just last week while Dan had made microwave popcorn, and they’d cooed over the wolf puppies together. The wolves had flanked the deer they’d been hunting and had managed to overpower it that way. 

“I suppose! I’m going to try to get my hand around it’s jaw, but if you get the chance, grab its neck too, okay? Or its flank, or just anywhere, really.” Dan put in a proper sprint and made it to the side of the poor sheep. It was starting to be tired out by the high pace chase, and the impressive ability of persistence hunting that made humans unique in comparison to other primate species really came through for them. 

Dan lunged for the sheep and got his hand around the bony part of its jaw, holding the head up. “Quick!” 

Max jumped in too and grabbed the sheep’s neck with one hand and its hind leg with the other. “Now what”, he panted, completely out of breath.

“We can’t let it put its head down!”, Dan instructed. The sheep disagreed with that and put his head down, head butting Dan straight in the stomach with enough force to send him flying backwards to the ground.

Dan cried out in pain, and Max reacted in an instant, catching the hogget’s jaw himself. “Are you alright?!” 

“Not really”, Dan said and coughed, holding his belly. “But better than if it got my balls.” 

Max choked out a laugh and tried to focus on the lamb. He remembered that Dan had told him about how a soothing voice could calm the sheep down, and how loud and sudden noises stress them out a lot since their ears amplify sound. “Hey, hey, calm down, I’m here. We’re gonna get you back to the herd, okay? Please don’t head butt me too. Aren’t you a woolly little baby?”, he baby talked the sheep, and it worked. It stopped jerking around, and Max took a deep breath. “Good boy. Well done. Dan? Are you still there? What do I do now?” 

Not able to turn around to look at Dan who was still sitting on the floor, Max waited for Dan to tell him what to do. “I’m here, I’m okay”, Dan piped up, and if Max had been able to see him, he’d probably be quite confused. Dan was staring at Max, slack-jawed and in surprise. Max being able to get the baby ram under control this quickly was impressive, and honestly also incredibly hot. Dan had never realised how much upper arm strength Max really had - he’d seen him in shirts and wife beaters and even topless on occasion, but somehow the fact that his shapely biceps hid a fair amount of strength had escaped Dan’s notice. Which was criminal, really. 

“I think he sprained his ankle”, Dan said when he’d gotten himself back under control. “We’re going to have to lead him back very carefully.” 

He got off the ground and patted himself down, trying to get rid of some of the dirt, before he helped Max hold the hogget down. 

“Okay”, Max said, checking Dan with a worried glance. They tried to lead the sheep without letting it go, but he quickly started struggling again.

After it almost broke loose again Dan cursed, frustrated. “I think we’re going to have to carry him.” 

“How on earth do you carry a wholeass sheep?” 

Dan pulled a face. “On your shoulders.” 

Max groaned. “Oh fuck, okay, but if he poops on me I’m going to be in a bad mood all evening.” 

“I can carry him, you just need to hold him down so I can get him up”, Dan argued, but he was still holding his stomach and the prospect of carrying their little rascal all the way back to the herd and the camp was not very pleasant. 

“No way, you’re hurt. I’m doing it. Just tell me how?” Max left no room for disagreement, and expectantly looked up to Dan. 

Thankfully the hogget let himself be handled now and it only took a couple of pointers from Dan before Max had the sheep on his shoulders, front legs on his right shoulder, hind legs on his left, and the whole sheep hanging right behind his head. 

They managed to bring the sheep back to the herd and Dan hammered a wooden pole into the ground, quickly attaching a collar to the hogget to stop him from taking off again even though the calming presence of the herd was hopefully enough to keep him close by. 

“What about his foot?”, Max asked when they’d settled back in. 

Dan weighed his head. “I’m going to leave it be until tomorrow morning, if he’s not putting weight on it by tomorrow I’m going to bandage it.” 

Nodding, Max opened the can of beans they were going to have for dinner - beans and some bread. “And how are you feeling?” 

Rolling his eyes, Dan watched Max cook their dinner. “I’m okay, stop worrying.” 

Max just nodded and busied himself with the food, but Dan kept on watching him. His hair was tousled, he’d given up on the hair gel and kept it a little bit longer too. Dan liked it better this way, even though the put together fuckboy appearance was appealing too. He really liked Max. Not only physically, but... Max had just carried a sheep for him, and Dan had never considered that that could be such a turn on. 

He really didn’t hate the farm or the farm work, but he’d always thought he’d end up going to university and getting a degree, some kind of fun-but-still-business degree and sport management seemed to fit the bill. He missed uni, and his friends, but he was happy to help his parents out, and now he was here with Max. 

Dan had a lot to think about, and when they crawled into their sleeping bags in the shared tent it took a long time until Dan fell asleep, his thoughts full of thoughts about Max’s arms. 

The next day came a lot quicker than Dan wanted it to. He bandaged the hogget’s leg, and they followed the sheep when they started to move along naturally. It was an uneventful day, but putting the tent up went a lot smoother this time around. 

At night, when Max was cooking their dinner again and Dan was just about to continue his brooding about his future and the sheep and also yes still Max’ arms, Max cleared his throat. 

“What’cha thinking about?”

Dan looked up. “Ah, just. You know. Life?” 

Max made a gesture for Dan to go on. 

“I don’t think I mentioned it but,” Dan looked a little despondent. “It’s about college and stuff,” he finished lamely. 

“If you want to talk about it, you can, yeah?”

Brushing the offer off, Dan looked around. The sheep had already gone to sleep, not even the slightest bleating was audible, and the evening was calm. It really was a perfect night, not a single cloud in the sky, and the moon shone already even though the very last sun rays had not disappeared yet. 

Max had warmed up canned ravioli and handed the can to Dan together with a spoon. “I don’t want to pressure you, but it might help to talk about it, mate. Do you want me to start?” 

Dan shrugged, he was in an unusually closed off mood, even a bit put out. He didn’t know why exactly but his usual cheerfulness was replaced by irritation, and all the worries he’d been suppressing for weeks came back in full. 

“My dad,” Max started after a deep breath and in between two spoonful’s of relatively revolting ravioli, “my dad went to prison because he beat someone until their skull was split open.”

That made Dan freeze around a mouthful of food, looking up to Max with a shocked expression, worry written all over his face. 

“He wasn’t quite as bad to me as you’re probably imagining right now, but it was still bad. He left me on the side of the road after he found out that my Highschool exams didn’t exactly bring the results he was hoping for.” 

“He _what_?!”, Dan interrupted against his will. “That’s fucking horrible, Max, I’m so sorry.” 

Max smiled sadly. “He wanted me to go to university and study engineering, since I’ve already disappointed him by not being interested in motorsport. The fact that my sister is doesn’t matter... and now I’m not even smart enough for a college education. Guess I’m the- ha, guess I’m the black sheep of the family. Quite literally now”, Max added with a smirk and pointed in the direction of their mostly-white-but-there-is-one-black-sheep herd. 

Dan shook his head, brows furrowed in anger. “You’re smart, Max. You’re smart, and amazing, and don’t ever think you’re worthless! Do you know how quickly you’ve learned all of this sheep husbandry stuff? It’s fantastic. I’ve never seen someone pick up this quickly on how to handle a sheep.” 

But Max only shrugged his shoulders, shovelling another spoonful of ravioli into his mouth. “Yeah, I know. I mean, thanks, but... my dad is an asshole, and I know that. I don’t care anymore. That’s why I’m here - to find something I like, to work with my hands, to... start making a life for myself.” 

With a nod, Dan put his empty ravioli can to the side. “I’m glad to hear that. I’m not the best at pep talks but... you’re great. You deserve to be happy.” 

Laughing lightly, Max started to clean up as well. “Thanks, Dan, really. It’s okay. I feel like I’m on a good way to figure things out. So what about you? What was on your mind?” 

“I feel even worse than before now, walling in self-pity about this dumb issue-“ 

Immediately interrupting Dan when he said that, Max said: “No, no, no. You don’t get to invalidate yourself either. It’s not a dumb issue if it’s making you worry.” 

Dan took a deep breath. “You know I’m studying sport management, right? And I dropped out to take care of the farm while my dad’s recovering?” He waited for Max’ confirming nod before he continued. 

“When I was a teen I had this dream of ‘breaking free’ and ‘making it’. It’s kind of stupid, and I never hated the farm or anything like that, but I thought going to university, getting a degree, doing the business thing... that’s what I’m supposed to do. Make money so I can support my parents better. And I got into my dream programme, but... fuck, it’s boring. I hate business school. I like the sports parts of it but everything with maths? Or statistics? Or even worse, _law_? I hate it.” 

Dan ripped out a handful of grass and started to tear the straws apart. 

“But then my dad’s back needed the surgery, and now I’m here and I don’t know if I should go back. I think I have to finish the degree at least, I’ve already invested money and time and so much effort into it... I can always decide after I get the degree, right?” 

“Right”, Max agreed easily. “What do _you_ want though?” 

The distressed noise Dan made at that tore at Max’ heartstrings. 

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything. But I think I want to give my parents the farm back - I’m barely getting by as it is, and the lambing season is coming up and I have no idea how to handle it.” 

After a moment of silence, Dan added: “But I worry. My parents won’t live forever and there is no way that I can sell the farm to just anyone.” 

“You don’t have to decide right now though. You can just take it one day at a time, yeah? Get the sheep back home, and then we’ll figure out the lambing. And then you can still see what to do about university.” Max scooted a little closer to Dan and patted his arm. It was the first time they touched for no specific reason - the first time they touch as a comfort. Max bit his lip when he suddenly got overly aware of how close he was to Dan, how the scratchy fabric of his shirt felt against his hand, how he could feel his body heat next to him. 

“It’s-“ Dan’s voice broke and he had to clear his throat to continue speaking. “It’s not that easy, the semester starts right after lambing season-“ 

Dan turned his head and looked at Max. They were so close that Dan could smell Max’ sweat. It should’ve probably been disgusting, considering they had been wrestling sheep all day, but it turned Dan on. It wasn’t the sharp sensation of need that overpowered his senses though, it was softer, warmer, and the overwhelming want to feel Max’ lips against his made Dan lean forward. 

Their sides were now pressed together, faces only inches apart, and Dan could almost taste the kiss already, when a sudden loud bleating startled them apart. 

“What-“, Max asked, confused, and a little out of breath because of the implications of their almost-kiss. 

Dan stood up though, all his senses focused on the sound they’d heard. The small gas lamp next to their tent didn’t do much to lighten up the dark, so Dan grabbed the flashlight. 

“What’s going on?” Not daring to speak louder than in a whisper, Max repeated his question. 

“I think there’s something out there”, Dan replied under his breath. There was a movement in the herd, and suddenly Dan grabbed Max’ arm, hard. “I think there’s a predator out there. We need to circle the herd, so they don’t start running. If it’s a fox, it’s easy to drive it off, but if it’s a dingo, be fucking careful, okay? If it attacks, the herd is more important than the individual, and you’re more important than the herd. Understood?” 

“Uh—“

“Understood?”, Dan asked again, this time with a sense of urgency. 

“Yes.” 

Max and Dan locked eyes for a moment, then Dan pressed a flashlight in Max’ hands and grabbed his shepherd’s crook for himself.

“Let’s go.” 

They moved slowly, shining the flashlight away from the sheep. They bleated insistently, and Dan whispered: “You need to look out for the reflective eyes.” 

Not that Max would ever admit it, but his heart was beating fast from fear. He only knew city foxes, he’d seen one in London once, and they were peaceful and shy creatures. He didn’t even know they hunted _sheep_ too, but it was Australia, so go figure. 

Suddenly, there was a howling noise from the other side of the herd. 

“Over there!”, Dan shouted, and started running towards the noise. Of course Max took off as well, but he surrounded the herd in the other direction so they wouldn’t start running towards the predator. 

He tried to shine his flashlight into the distance, but no reflecting eyes shone back - until he met Dan again, who was standing there with his legs spread apart and the crook stretched out in front of him. 

“Make yourself as big as possible, cross your arms over your chest”, Dan directed. “It’s a dingo.” 

A couple of Dutch curses came over Max’ lips, and then he stood next to Dan and did as instructed. 

Then, Dan added: “Don’t scream.” 

In the next second, the object that Max has assumed to be Dan’s shepherd’s crook rapidly increased in size, and a snapping sound indicated that it had opened into an - umbrella? 

The dingo made a whining noise, and turned around to take off into the darkness. 

Dan let out a sigh, he’d been holding his breath the entire time. “Fuck.” 

“I almost pissed myself there, to be honest”, Max said in a toneless voice. “Is it gone? Is it going to bring back its pack?” 

“Hopefully not.” Grimly, Dan turned around and looked at the sheep. “It’s too dark to see if they’re hurt. We’ll have to count them tomorrow first thing in the morning.” 

That made sense. “So we’re just going to go to sleep anyway?” 

“Yeah.” 

Max trailed after Dan when they returned to their tent. “Shouldn’t we... stay awake? Keep guard?” 

Dan shook his head and suddenly stopped right in front of the entrance. Not being able to stop in time, Max ran right into him. 

“Oof.” Max opened his mouth to apologise, but Dan suddenly turned around and grabbed him by the shoulders. The adrenaline from the dingo scare still pumping through his blood, Max was immediately on high alert again. “What?!”

The sudden realisation of what he was doing made Dan drop his hands and step back. “Oh, shit, sorry, nothing-“ He couldn’t believe he’d almost laid his hands on Max. Almost kissed him, just like that, _again_. He needed to get a grip on himself instead of molesting his _employee_. “I’m going to sleep”, Dan announced and quickly got read to crawl into his sleeping bag. 

Max on the other hand took his time. He checked that their rubbish was all in sealed odour-proof, dingo-proof containers, and that the grey water they used to clean to spoons was poured out far enough away from both the herd and the camp site. 

Then he took off his dirty clothes, putting them away and slipping into soft pyjama bottoms instead. He had brought a shirt to sleep in, after all he’d known he was going to share the tent with Dan, but... maybe it was their almost-kiss from earlier, or the way Dan had protected the herd and Max from a wild dog; he decided to keep it off. As an invitation. A man had to try, right? 

He crawled into his sleeping bag, but he could not get comfy. Dan was already sleeping, or pretending to sleep, so Max tried to be quiet and not too disappointed that he hadn’t even noticed that he was now shirtless. 

“Can you stop rolling around, please.” 

Dan’s voice sounded gravelly in the darkness. 

“Sorry.” 

Max managed to go thirty seconds before he had to change positions again, his thoughts centred on Dan. They were playing back the incident with the spider, every detail of Dan’s body that he’d seen then still vivid in front of his mind’s eye. 

“Max.” 

“Dan”, Max replied, deadpan. 

A low growl came from Dan’s direction, and the sound sent a shiver down Max’ back. 

“Shut. Up.” Dan sounded agitated, maybe due to the pent up adrenaline, maybe the fact that he’d opened up to Max earlier. 

In any case, Max had already taken his shirt off. “Make me.” 

The provocative statement in the most suggestive tone he could manage finally delivered the desired result. Dan struggled free of his sleeping bag and from one second to the next he was hovering over Max. “You better take that back right now.” 

“Or what?”, Max gave back, and unzipped his sleeping bag. The fabric slid off his body, revealing his naked chest to Dan’s gaze. 

“Or-“ Dan leaned forward, his body was still right next to Max but he had propped himself up on his elbows, caging Max’ in with his hands. 

Max didn’t wait for Dan to finish that sentence, putting his hands around his head, his fingers sinking into Dan’s soft curls, and pulled him in. Moaning into the kiss, Dan went with the motion, opening his lips for Max. 

Their kiss got more passionate; Max couldn’t get enough of the soft feeling of Dan’s hair, pulling it softly. That triggered another growl from Dan.

“Fuck”, Max gasped against Dan’s lips, “that noise is so hot, you have no idea.” 

“You’re so hot you have no idea.” Dan started to kiss a line down over Max’ throat, touching and licking and kissing his way over Max’ torso. He stopped to pay extra attention to his nipples, making Max moan and slightly move his hips up against Dan. 

“D’you want a blowjob?” Dan had just left a hickey on Max’ skin, teeth mark included. He wanted him, wanted him so much, to mark him, to kiss him, to hold him, to fuck him, but he’d take whatever he’d get. 

Max tried to pull Dan back up to kiss him again. “Fuck me?” 

“Don’t have lube.” 

“I don’t care.” Max pushed Dan over on his back since the tent was by far not tall enough for either of them to stand. “I’ll suck you off first.” 

Dan made a noise that was somewhere in between a growl and a moan, and Max loved it. He loved that Dan was vocal, and how warm his body was, and he loved that he knew what Dan looked like under his clothes and he’d be treated to that view again. 

“Let me open you up first, then.” 

Maybe it was an insane idea to go bareback and dry on their first time, but it fit the atmosphere. Dan pulled down Max’ pyjama pants and spit on his hand, slowly pushing a finger in to the knuckle. “That okay?” 

“Yeah, come on!” Max had been including anal plugs in his masturbation sessions, so it wasn’t like it’s been a long time since the last time he’d done this. 

Dan still took his time, and tried to get Max’ as wet and loose as possible. It was heaven, even though Max started to get the feeling that Dan was avoiding his prostate on purpose. 

“You know, if you’d crook your finger just so-“, he tried to say in between moans. 

Dan laughed, and the usual warm and cheerful sound was a lot darker; sending a shiver down Max’s spine. “Oh you’d love that, wouldn’t you? Are you that desperate already?” Dan added another finger, and leaning forward, sucking the spot right underneath Max’ ear that made him weak in the knees. How had Dan figured that out already? “I’m going to hit that nice spot with my cock and I’m going to make you scream.” 

Max shivered again, his pelvis moving against Dan’s fingers. “Please”, he begged, feeling like he was going to go insane with need and lust. 

Breathless, Dan pressed another kiss to Max’ lips. “Yeah, okay.” 

They quickly got rid of Dan’s shirt and his boxers, and Max kissed Dan again, biting his lip until it was red and plump, before he scooted down his body to be face to face with Dan’s dick. 

He wished he had more time to explore Dan, pay attention to the way he reacted to every single touch, but the tent was small and this blowjob was more about getting Dan’s dick wet than anything else. 

Max still took the time to slowly lick and kiss Dan’s length, pushing his foreskin back to reveal his swollen cockhead. 

“Max”, Dan groaned when Max let his tongue dance along the frenulum. “If you want me to fuck you, you better hurry up.” 

“Hmmm”, Max hummed around Dan’s dick and let his mouth slide down, taking him in all the way. He bobbed his head, trying to get as much saliva on it as possible. 

Then Dan got him back on his back and with a fluent movement thrust into Max. It was tight, and definitely more on the dry side, even a little more than strictly comfortable, but it worked. It worked with the way the scratchy sleeping bag felt under his back, the way the air had gotten stuffy inside the tent. The way the nightly nature sounds outside complimented the atmosphere, even though they were both so focused on each other they’d probably not even heard a dingo howl right in front of the tent. It worked because the tension that had been building up between them was finally being released. 

They kissed sloppily, Max’ arms wrapped around Dan, pulling him closer and moving together with him. Dan adjusted his position a little and his next thrust hit Max’ prostate. 

“Oh, _fuck_”, Max screamed, and clenched down on Dan’s cock. “Please”, he babbled, “please, Dan, touch me, please, you feel so good, fuck me!” 

Dan complied and started to touch Max’ in the rhythm of his thrusts. “God, baby”, Dan whispered, his eyes glued to Max’ and the way he was pressing himself against Dan. His hair stuck to his forehead, sweaty from the exertion, and Dan loved it. He had to bite his lip to keep that particular sentiment from slipping out. 

It only took another couple of thrusts for Max to come all over Dan’s hand; and Dan followed suit immediately. 

Dan pulled out and let himself fall next to Max, both of them lying on their backs and panting. 

“Wow.” 

“That’s all I get?” Max turned his head to smirk at Dan. 

Dan rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t hide the giant smile that spread over his features. “Double wow.” 

Max playfully slapped Dan’s arm before he snatched up his shirt and wiped himself down. Then he curled up next to Dan and yawned. “Good night, baby.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the second part, as promised. However I do not take criticism for dramatically misjudging how big Australia is, thanks. (It's fucking massive, wth.) I still hope this chapter provides a satisfying ending to this little farm AU. <3

After that first time both Max and Dan got a lot more liberal with their touches. Leaning against each other during the day, randomly taking each other’s hand, face touching, brushing a stray strand of hair out of a forehead - they were both tactile people, and the passionate night had broken the dams on their inhibitions. 

They didn’t think about the consequences, and the conversation didn’t turn to more serious topics for the next couple of days. Instead they were full of laughter, and sex, and taking care of the sheep, and sex, and making sure the sheep were okay. And canned food. 

Only when Dan announced that they’d have to return to the farm and the sheep station because the lambing season was getting closer and closer Max started to ponder on how their relationship was going to go on. 

On their last day at the camp Max was slow to eat his breakfast, trying to work out if asking Dan if they were boyfriends now was too forward. Dan did call him ‘baby’, but only when they were sleeping with each other, and while the touching seemed to come natural to Dan Max wasn’t sure what exactly this was between them. They never talked about it, after all. 

But then before he could find the courage to ask Dan about it the sheep started moving on their own, and Dan and him struggled to finish up the packing of the tent and their belongings to follow them and to direct them back to the farm. 

The next chance to catch Dan in a quiet moment was after they’d arrived at the farmhouse, tools already stored away and the sheep happy to be back in their pasture. 

“Hey, Dan?”, Max asked, leaning against the door frame to the kitchen where Dan was brewing a cup of tea. 

“Yeah?” 

Max took a deep breath. “I was wondering, because I really enjoyed our time together, if-“ 

Dan’s phone started to ring. 

“Oh, look, it’s Seb!”, Dan exclaimed, gave Max the gesture for ‘just one minute’ and picked up. “Hey, man, how are you doing?” 

With a sigh, Max sat down at the table and listened to the one-sided conversation. Apparently Seb, whoever that was, would come stay with them for lambing season and bring a Kimi with him. Probably his girlfriend, Max thought, and tried to fight off the jealousy that had overcome him. 

Then, when Dan had finally hung up, he looked up at Max. “Sorry, Maxy, I just realised I should really start making accommodations for the lambing. Did you want something important? I’m going to have to call my parents and see if they’re coming back in time for it, or if I need to find additional help to Seb and Kimi.” 

“It’s fine”, Max said brusquely and stood up. He understood Dan had more important things to organise but it still hurt, so Max spent the remainder of the day sulking, and cleaning out the sheep’s barn. After that, still in his dirty clothes, he sat down in the grass with one of his favourite ewes to pet her head. It was the black one. 

“You know”, Max told her with a heavy sigh, “I know I’m not supposed to get attached in case you.. get eaten by a dingo, or something equally horrible, because you’re livestock, not a pet. But you’re the only one I can talk to right now, can I?” 

The ewe bleated loudly and then continued to chew cud. 

“I agree. You know, I really like him. I really really like him. I know it was just sex to him, probably, but... I’m almost starting to think that this is what I want from life. Sheep, and a farm, and maybe a hot husband who fucks me in a tent, okay.” 

Realising what he’d just said, Max stopped his petting of the ewe’s head. “Not that I want to marry him right now. It was a metaphor. Don’t tell him I said that.” 

Since the ewe didn’t seem like she was planning to run off to Dan to tell him about Max little slip up, he resumed his petting. 

“Max?”, Dan called from the outside of the paddock. “Are you there?” 

“Guess that’s my cue. Sorry, darling. Sleep tight. Don’t get that lamb without me present, are we clear?” He got up with a groan and walked over to Dan after one last pet to the ewe’s head. “What’s up, mate?” 

Dan smiled brightly, almost bouncing on his toes with excitement. “My parents are coming back! Right in time for lambing season! And then, when the lambs are all here, my friends from Sydney are going to pick me up before I’ll be able to go back to university if I want.” 

Well. That was the answer to Max’ question then. 

“Oh.” He swallowed, awkwardly pushing his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “That’s great. I’m happy for you.” 

The lack of enthusiasm made Dan wrinkle his forehead. “Are you okay? You seem... off.” Dan raised his hand to touch Max’ arm, but he quickly sidestepped the touch. 

“Nah, I’m fine. I’m just exhausted, and looking forward to sleeping in a proper bed tonight.” 

With a wink, Dan looked Max up and down. “You sure about the ‘sleeping’ part of that sentence?” 

“Very”, Max replied in a firm voice. “I’m really tired Dan. See you tomorrow.” 

He left Dan there, not even turning around when he shouted after Max with a confused: “But what about dinner?” 

#

With lambing season coming up time seemed to fly by. There was so much to do that Max didn’t have enough time to get all the sulking done he wanted to, but it also gave him a good excuse on why he wouldn’t sleep with Dan again. Not that Dan had tried to come onto him again after that initial rejection at the barn. 

Dan’s parents arrived, tanned from the sun and Joe in good health, luckily. That had been another source of anxiety for Max, he’d worried they wouldn’t like him, but at least this fear was without grounds. Both Grace and Joe were super nice, and Grace had actually hugged Max upon seeing him. Apparently Dan had told them about Max on the phone, especially the incident with the hoggart that Max had carried back to the herd. 

Dan had gotten even busier, showing his dad all the changes he’d made and also trying to stop him from working too much, and he’d started to prepare closed pens for the ewe’s with his mum’s and Max’ help. And then, finally, Seb and his mysterious probably-girlfriend arrived. 

Since Dan had picked them up in the jeep Max was waiting on the farm when they arrived. He wasn’t spying, or stalking, he was merely waiting to welcome them. And what a welcome it was, Dan jumped out of the car - and along with him two men in their thirties. 

“Hey, Max!”, Dan called over to him, and then introduced him: “Guys, this is Max, my farm hand. Max, these are Seb and Kimi, our best seasonal helpers. Kimi is a vet, and Seb is his secretary or something, but they always help us out with the lambing.” 

Kimi only nodded in Max’ direction without a change of expression, but Seb smiled. “Not a secretary”, he reminded Dan in a sing-song voice that indicated this was a running joke between them. “So”, he turned to Max, “have you helped with lambing before?” 

Max shook his head. “I watched a YouTube video on it, though.” 

That made Kimi snort, and Dan laugh. “As you can see he’s well-prepared”, Dan joked, and then led the two men over to the farmhouse. 

Slightly mortified and definitely angry, Max stomped off in the opposite direction. Not even did they clearly think he was stupid, but now his worry about Dan possibly being involved with Seb - or even Kimi! - returned. 

Dan on the other hand didn’t have to worry about jealousy. He was happy to see his friends again, and was relieved to have the extra help. Almost as soon as Seb and Kimi had settled in and they’d gotten around to crotch the sheep so the wool was strategically cut back for the lamb to have easier access when nursing, the first ewe started to lamb. Once the first lamb had arrived, the next were quick to follow, and soon enough Max’ favourite ewe, the black one, had given birth too. 

“Didn’t think you’d be one to be swayed by baby sheep”, Seb commented when he saw Max sitting next to the black ewe and her lamb. Max wasn’t petting either of them since he didn’t want to stress them out, but just sitting with them gave him peace. 

“No?” Max smiled at Seb. “The black one’s my favourite, why wouldn’t I coo over it a little?” He’d really come around to him as well as his husband. They were good people, and Kimi had taught him more about the difficulties an ewe might be facing during a birth than he’d ever wanted to know. It was helpful knowledge though, and Max had really been pulling his weight alongside Seb and Kimi. After all they had to check on every ewe that was close to lambing every three to four hours, that the newborn lambs were nursing properly and so many other things they barely had the time to come up for air. 

Seb smirked back and checked that the ear tag on the lamb was in a good position. “You’re always so cool and collected - unless you’re around Dan of course. Guess you’re just like that for your favourites.” 

That made Max splutter. “What?” 

“He means that you’re in love with him”, Kimi dryly commented. He was approaching with a pitchfork and had apparently just changed out the hay. Putting the tool away from the sheep, he sat down on the grass next to Seb and Max. 

“I’m absolutely not, where are you even getting this from-“ 

Seb leaned back, angling his head so the sun would shine on his face. “Oh come on, Max, you can be honest with us!” 

“Yes, Max”, Kimi added, “Please tell Seb so he can stop gossiping about you every waking moment.” 

“That’s- I’m-!” Max looked from Seb to Kimi and then back to Seb, actually rendered speechless. “You’re pulling my leg!” 

Kimi shrugged, but Seb patted Max’ shoulder. “A little, but you know you can talk to us, yeah?” 

“I don’t know...” Max was reluctant to talk about Dan behind his back, but he really wanted to tell someone. His sister had just told him to ‘fuck it out’, and that was less than helpful advice. 

Putting his arm around Seb’s shoulders, Kimi sighed. “Look, kid, even I can see you like him. I don’t know what happened between you, but Dan really plans to go back to Sydney to continue this idiotic course of study of his.” 

“Not that we’d ever discourage him”, Seb interrupted, leaning into Kimi’s embrace. “It’s just - he’s chasing this ideal of what he has to achieve, he just wants a degree so he can say he has it. Even though he’s needed here more than ever. Joe’s back is hurting again, and I would never in a thousand years call Dan selfish, but he’s blinded by the damn bling bling his friends dangle in front of his nose every time he sees them.” 

“What bling bling?”, Max asked, slightly overwhelmed by the amount of information Seb and Kimi just casually dropped on him. 

Kimi laughed. “Oh, you know. Their smart casual dress shirts, and Italian leather shoes, and their manicured nails.” 

“Don’t be rude”, Seb chastised him. “They’re just... rich city kids. They’re not bad people.” 

“No”, Kimi agreed. “They’re just going to show up to take a couple of cute pics with the lambs for their instagram and neither of them has ever even wasted a thought on the amount of effort it took for the ewes and us to get the lambs to this point.” 

Max had started to chew on his lip. “So these friends, they’re the reason he wants to go back to Sydney?” 

“Yeah, but not what you think. He just... he wants to be them. At least for a little while until he has to take over the farm, I think.” Seb looked like he wanted to say more, but he sighed. “I just want to say, you should remind him on what he’s missing out when he goes back to Sydney before they come around.” 

“Okay”, Max said, suddenly a bit choked up. He hadn’t given much thought to when Dan would actually go back to Sydney. “Thank you for the advice.” 

“No worries.” Seb and Kimi left quickly after that, noticing that Max was too busy with his own thoughts to continue a conversation with them. 

The next day, Kimi showed Max how to dock a newborn lamb’s tail. Max had been outraged at the prospect of removing the lamb’s tails, but Seb had explained that it was pertinent for the health of the livestock - it was a lot more hygienic and reduced the risk of fly strike, which involved maggots burying in the wool and even skin of the sheep and had turned Max’ stomach even more than the docking techniques Kimi had talked about. 

“Can I ask you something?”, Max asked Kimi when they’d successfully placed the tight rubber band on a lamb’s tail. 

“Sure.” 

“Do you think it’s an insane think to ask if I can stay here even if Dan leaves?” 

Surprised, Kimi looked up from where he had been putting away the numbing medication he’d used on the lamb. “You mean, in Australia?”

“No”, Max shook his head. “On the farm. I really like the work, and... I don’t want to go back to Europe. I’d rather stay here. Even... even without Dan.” 

Kimi shrugged at that. “Maybe you should talk to Grace about this. Don’t take it personal, but I think it might be easier to get over Dan if you leave, too.” 

That hadn’t quite been what Max had expected from this talk, but at least Kimi was honest. Max resolved to talk to Dan’s mum, and to talk to Dan. It was really overdue anyway, and Seb and Kimi were right. 

#

Max hadn’t talked to Dan. 

All the ewes had given birth and the amount of work they had to get through was finally starting to calm down, so Seb and Kimi were leaving again. Both of them had hugged him and had wished him the very best, and they’d both given him pointed glances in Dan’s direction. They left as quickly as they’d arrived, only leaving behind the promise to come back next year. 

When they were gone, Dan finally went to James and Niki Hunt for his dinner invitation. He’d said he wanted to get this over with before his Sydney friends would drop by, and this meant that the deadline of Dan leaving was coming closer and closer. At least it gave Max the prime opportunity to mope around and to at least talk to Dan’s mum in peace. 

He’d quietly walked up to her in the kitchen and helped her with the dishes. Grace and Joe were staying in the farmhouse as well of course, so Max had tried to make himself scarce out of politeness, as least from the common living areas. Max still cooked a lot, but he was relieved that Grace was a great cook. How Dan had managed to not pick up on any of her cooking skills was a mystery to Max. 

“What’s wrong, Max?”, Grace asked softly when they were done. She led Max over to the sofa and patted the spot next to her. Max let himself fall down onto the cushions, hugging one to his chest. To his absolute terror he noticed that it was the exact couch cushion Dan had used all those months ago after the Shower Incident to hide his modesty behind. Max hugged the pillow even closer. 

“I don’t want Dan to leave”, Max replied just as softly before he could change his mind. 

“Me neither, love.” Grace smiled at him. “Have you told him that you’d like him to stay?” 

Max quickly shook his head. “I don’t want to stop him from pursuing his dreams...”

She took the pillow out of his hands and cupped his hands in hers instead. “He’s stubborn, and sometimes really doesn’t know what he’s doing. You’ve helped him make great progress here. I was worried the farm would be too much of a responsibility, considering he tried to run away from it so hard with his studies, but... you’ve done well.” 

“I... I was wondering if... even if Dan leaves, would you still... keep me around?”, Max asked, anxious and unsure about himself. He felt like his entire life was depending on the answer. 

“Of course. We’re still going to need help, and you’re an excellent farm hand. You’re welcome here for however long you want to stay.” Grace patted his hand, and Max sniffled. He was absolutely not tearing up, it must be his allergies, or something. 

Since the conversation with Grace seemed to have opened the flood gates, Max disappeared into his room as quickly as possible to cry properly. He missed Dan, he missed Dan terribly. Not only the intimacy and the sex, he also missed what they had before they went out with the herd. Their easy companionship and their video game evenings, trying to kill spiders together, all those normal day to day things. Max was in love with Dan, and Dan was going to leave.

#

The evening at James’ and Niki’s had been relaxing and a great change of pace for Dan. Ever since they’d returned from their little camping trip Dan’s life had become a whirlwind of events. The lambing season had felt both much longer and much shorter than any other year, and Dan was looking forward to seeing Lewis and Nico again tomorrow. They’d pick him up, and he’d go back to Sydney, and then he’d figure everything out. 

He worried that the decision was too hasty - lambing season was only just over, maybe his parents would need more help? Maybe he hadn’t thought it over enough? But since he’d decided on a whim to leave to go take care of the farm it was only fair to decide on a whim to go back to university. Right? 

However, there was the small issue of Max. 

Max, who’d become his best friend. 

Who carried a sheep for him. Defended him against a spider. Saved him from the coffee machine. Beat him in a quad race. 

Who he’d shared mind blowing, intimate, emotional sex with, and who then refused to even be touched by Dan as soon as they’d been back to the farmhouse. 

Dan didn’t think that Max even realised he’d broken Dan’s heart. Maybe that was on Dan, then, because there were ample opportunities for him to confess his feelings to Max, but he’d tried to keep it casual. On one hand, he hadn’t wanted to overwhelm Max, and on the other hand it had just taken him a while to realise it himself. And then, the lambing, his parents return, Seb and Kimi and all the work on the farm - Dan hadn’t been able to prioritise his moping and pining like he’d wanted to. 

Well, he’d be gone by tomorrow evening, and he’d be able to distract himself soon enough as well. Hopefully. Maybe. He’d ask Nico and Lewis for pointers. Not that they knew much about casual sex, the romantic idiots, but still. 

On his way back to his bedroom he ran into Max. He was standing in the hallway and looking at the old photos that decorated it, photos of Joe and the first lamb born on the farm, baby Dan with an oversized helmet on a bobby car, Grace on the old tractor. 

“I almost thought I’d end up here too, isn’t that wild”, Max said suddenly, and then seemed to shake out of it. “Not that I’d have any right to be here, I was just-“ 

Dan saw an alternate future flash by, one where he was happy with Max, stayed on the farm, took pictures with Max and put them up on this wall. Maybe their wedding photo? Max’ hasty correction brought Dan back into the present.

“Ah. Yeah”, Dan said, and coughed. “What’s going on with you?” 

That made Max turn around to face him. “What do you mean what’s going on? It’s not me who’s leaving tomorrow, eh?”

Dan shrugged, for some reason that last statement felt a lot like an accusation. “I just feel like we haven’t really had a chance to talk in ages.” 

“Don’t think there’s a whole lot more of those chances lying ahead of us either”, Max replied icily. 

Left speechless, Dan wrung his hands. “Look, I wanted to apologise. I got the feeling we had something nice out there when we were camping, something nice while it lasted I mean. I’m sorry it’s ending like this. I never should’ve put you in this position.”

He sounded like an idiot. 

“Yeah.” 

Dan felt Max’ eyes on him. He tried not to look up because he knew that his one wish would be written all the way across his face: For Max to ask him to stay. 

“Good night, Dan”, Max said softly, and then he disappeared into his room. 

Vehemently controlling his emotions, Dan returned to his own room as well. There was no reason to be upset. He’d finally go back to get his degree done tomorrow. His broken heart be damned. 

Unfortunately he still felt the exact same when the next day rolled around. Dan’s bags were already standing next to the door, packed and ready to go, when a flashy dark red Mercedes G-Class rolled down the driveway to the farm. 

Making their presence known with a honk, Lewis and Nico jumped out of the car and greeted Dan with a hug. This time, Max was watching from a distance. 

After they’d updated each other on what happened on the farm and in Sydney respectively, Dan brought Lewis and Nico over to the paddock.

“Oh my god”, Lewis exclaimed when he saw the lambs. “Babies!” 

Dan laughed loudly. “Yes, Lewis, lambs are indeed babies.” 

Dan’s sarcasm did nothing to dispel Lewis’ excitement. “Nico, you need to take a picture of me with them. Can I hug them? Look how small they are! Their wonky little legs!”

“Yes, you can hug them - carefully. They’re not pets!”, Dan instructed. Max was still watching them, and Dan couldn’t stop looking at him instead of focusing on the shenanigans Lewis and Nico were about to pull. 

“They’re so fluffy!” Nico was petting the black lamb in awe. “I didn’t know wool felt like this!” 

“Is this your first time touching a sheep?”, Max asked before he remembered he’d sworn not to get involved. 

“Yeah”, Nico said with a bright smile. “I’m Nico, Dan’s friend from uni. City boy through and through, I’m afraid.” 

“I’m Lewis!”

Max suppressed a ‘could’ve guessed that’ before it came over his lips. 

“And I really want a lamb now”, Lewis added. He was making puppy eyes at Nico. “Imagine how cute that would be!” 

“Imagine how the dogs would love that”, Nico retorted with a laugh. “Your poor imaginary sheep!”

Dan almost rolled his eyes at that, and he caught Max’ eyes just when he did the same. Involuntarily, they smiled at each other. 

“I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.” Lewis’ voice served as a reminder that they weren’t alone. 

“Oh, we’re not-“ 

“He’s not my-“ 

In their haste to correct Lewis, they both talked over each other. 

“Hmmmm”, made Nico and wiggle his eyebrows, exchanging a glance with Lewis. 

“Stop it!” Dan really didn’t want them to make Max uncomfortable on top of everything. “Let’s get your lamb photo shoot done so we can leave.” 

Not that he was eager to leave, but better to make a clean cut.

“Yes!” Lewis was immediately distracted and ran off, not even caring about stepping into sheep poop in his excitement like Max had expected after what Kimi had told him about Dan’s Sydney friends. “Hug a lamb!”

“Sorry”, Nico apologised on his behalf and smiled at Max. “He gets weird when he sees baby animals. He cried when we got a puppy.” 

“Really?” 

Nico nodded. “Yeah. He’s softer than a marshmallow when it comes to fluffy things with big eyes.” 

“I suppose you qualify as a fluffy thing with big eyes then?”, Dan interrupted with a smirk. 

“Guess I do!” Nico looked proud at that declaration. 

“You’re insufferable, and so is your boyfriend.” 

Nico beamed at Dan and held up his hand where a classy ring with a small green stone was sitting on his ring finger. “It’s actually fiancé now.” 

“Damn, Nico! Congrats, mate!” Dan went to hug his friend. “Took you long enough.” 

Max took that as his cue to leave them all alone, he wasn’t exactly in the mood to hear about other people’s engagements. Dan noticed Max’ disappearance immediately, but he needed to let him go, and this was a good test run that. He tried to focus on Nico and Lewis and helped them to pick out the most patient lamb for some adorable photos. 

Lewis holding up a lamb, Lewis and Nico kissing while both of them were holding a lamb, a lamb trying to eat Lewis’ shirt - they managed to get quite the cute collection. Dan found himself wanting to take pictures like that with Max and had to shake his head at himself for this ridiculous notion. 

After Lewis and Nico had taken enough pictures with the black little lamb and released it back into the paddock to its mum Max showed up again and hugged it. Dan was pretty sure that Max was just going to make sure his favourite was doing okay, but he took the opportunity and snapped a couple of shots of Max and the lamb, cuddling and sitting together. 

There was no rule that he wasn’t allowed to torture himself a little when he was in Sydney, and he needed material for that. 

After Lewis and Nico finally got tired of playing with the lambs - or rather the lambs got tired of playing with them - it was time for Dan to say goodbye. Lewis and Nico left with a wave to wait at their car while Dan said his goodbyes. 

His parents came first. He hugged both of them, and promised to call regularly, as well as to come back as soon as possible. Dan made Joe promise to call immediately if there was any kind of problem with his back, too, and he pressed a big kiss to Grace’s cheek. Grace was wiping a tear away when she shooed him over to Max. 

Max had just been lingering next to them, not sure if it was appropriate to wait for a good bye or not. 

“So”, Dan said, voice a little pressed with emotion. He hoped Max would assume that was because of his parents. “Guess I’m leaving then.” 

“Guess you’re leaving then”, Max agreed. “Don’t let a spider bite you in Sydney.” 

“Never!” 

Before Dan could change his mind he quickly pulled Max into a hug, but Max did not reciprocate; he just stood there stiff as a board. Dan released him and cleared his throat. “Sorry for that. I just. Well. Bye, Max.” 

“Bye, Dan.” 

With one last look into Max’ bright blue eyes Dan turned around and waved to his parents again before he picked up his bags and made it over to Lewis’ and Nico’s car. He refused to check if Max was still standing there when he climbed into the backseat, and he kept his eyes focused on the headrest of the passenger seat until they’d left the farm. 

“Well, fuck”, Lewis announced from the driver’s seat and checked on Dan through the rear view mirror. “When you said you want to come back to uni I knew there was a deeper reason.” 

“What?”

“You know we were teasing earlier, but you _are_ in love with him, aren’t you?”, Nico asked. 

Lewis added: “And I’m assuming he doesn’t love you back and that’s why you’re running away to Sydney?” 

Who needed friends when they were this perceptive. Certainly not Dan. 

“It’s not that, it’s just-“ Dan tried to find a way to word it that wouldn’t sound quite as pathetic. “We slept with each other when we took the herd out. He was my best friend before that. And then he... rejected me, yes, and I’m running away to Sydney so I don’t have to see him anymore. Content now?” 

“Not really”, Lewis gave back. He pushed his sunglasses up his nose and continued to look at Dan through the rear view mirror. 

“Could you look at the road?”, Dan asked impatiently. 

“I can drive and judge you at the same time.” 

“Great.” 

“Don’t be upset”, Nico interjected. “Have you tried asking him why he changed his mind?” 

“No?” Dan ran his hand through his hair and leaned against the window, looking out into the fields. “We came back from camping and... well, I guess I told him I’d be able to go back to Sydney since my parents were coming back and then he just gave me the cold shoulder.” 

“So you told him you were leaving him and then you’re upset... because he thinks you broke up with him?” Lewis sounded like he didn’t know if he should cry or laugh. “You’re goddamn ridiculous, Ricciardo.” 

“We weren’t even together!” 

“Even _worse_!” Of course Nico agreed with his fiancé. Traitors, the both of them. “Have you considered asking him if he wants you to stay?” 

Dan had considered that, yes. But he wasn’t able to stand the thought of Max turning him down and breaking his heart _again_. He also wasn’t able to mull about this entire situation again. 

“How about you tell me about your wedding plans instead?” 

#

Grace found Max crying next to the black lamb. It had been almost a week since Dan left, and Max had barely talked during the entire time. 

“Max?”

“Oh!” He quickly wiped his tears away, trying to hide behind the lamb. “This is just allergies, don’t worry!” 

Grace sat down next to him on the grass. “Allergies to what? Dan leaving?” 

Feeling called out, Max pouted. “Well-“ 

“Had you talked to him before he left?”, Grace asked. 

“Uh, yes.” 

“Actually talked? Asked him to stay?” 

How was it possible that Grace could see right through him? 

“Grace, I- I tried, really. But...” 

With a sad smile Grace nodded. “It’s okay. Do you want a hug?” 

Max nodded shyly. Grace immediately hugged him, patting his head when he clung to her. “Shhh”, she made, “it’s going to be okay. We can figure this out.” 

“But how”, Max sniffed, and he was embarrassed to realise he was crying again. “He’s not coming back.” 

Grace continued to pat his head. “Unfortunately Joe had to realise that all the tax reports are written in a shorthand that Dan must’ve learned at school... so he’s going to have to come by and rewrite them before we can file them.” 

Max was quiet for a moment. “And you want me to go get him back.” 

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’ll be damned.” 

Grace laughed and let him sit up, handing him a tissue. “Think you can do this? And maybe tell him how you feel about him while you’re at it?” 

Max groaned. “Yeah, okay.” 

It wasn’t okay though. Max had somehow made it all the way to Sydney in Dan’s jeep, the Joe’s insistence to take a physical map along the only reason why Max hadn’t taken a wrong turn and ended up somewhere in the Australian outback. 

Now he was parked in front of the address Grace had handed him and Max was shaking. He took a deep breath and got out of the car before he could change his mind and went to ring the bell where it said ‘Hamilton’. 

The door opened, and Max was faced with one of Dan’s Sydney friends. Which made a lot of sense, considering he was in Sydney right now. 

“Uh”, Max said as a greeting. 

“Dan!”, Lewis shouted over his shoulder. “It’s Max!” 

Before Max could say anything Nico showed up next to Lewis. “Damnit”, Nico said and wrapped his arm around Lewis’ waist. “I can’t believe I owe you a hundred quid.” 

After another long look at Max Dan pushed them both to the side. “Max!”

“Hi.” Max started to feel awkward, standing in front of this door. “Can I come in?” 

“Yes, sure!” Dan stepped aside while still keeping the door open, and Max walked into the most beautiful apartment he’d ever been in. It was modern, all glass and chrome and black polished marble, and Max was already afraid he’d break something just from looking at it. 

“What are you doing here?”, Dan asked. His hair was a mess, it looked like he’d not even showered, and he was wearing an oversized jumper. 

Max carefully sat down on the edge of the sofa. He couldn’t see or hear Lewis and Nico so he assumed that it was okay for them to talk here. “I’ve got a message for you from your mum.” 

“You drove all the way across the country to, what? Deliver a message?!” 

“Two messages, actually.” Max would not back out this time. He was not a coward. 

“Well, go ahead then.” Dan sat down too, and he looked at Max like he expected to hear something horrible. So Max decided to start with the not-horrible thing, just to calm his nerves a bit. He didn’t want to torture Dan. 

“Your parents can’t read your handwriting. Or, I don’t actually know if it’s your handwriting. Something about you doing the taxes.” For a couple of heartbeats it was quiet. “Grace said you should come back to tell her what it says on the forms.” 

“She wants me to come back?”, Dan asked quietly. He looked at Max like he was still expecting that horrible message. “Why didn’t she call? Is my dad okay?” 

“He’s fine, yeah.” 

“Okay, so why didn’t she just call?” Genuinely confused, Dan stood up and starting pacing through the room. “Oh, do you want something to drink, by the way? Sorry, I’m horrible at entertaining guests. It’s not even my house.” He laughed nervously. 

“I’m good, thanks.” Max should really tackled that second message now. “Why’re you staying here with Lewis and Nico? Didn’t your uni provide student housing?” 

Dan ran his hand over his face and sat back down. “Uhm, well. There’s been an issue. But what was that second message you mentioned?” 

Fuck this. 

“I want you to come home, Dan.” Max forced himself to not look away. “I miss you. Please come home.” 

Opening and closing his mouth a couple of times, Dan seemed truly lost for words. “Where is this coming from? You don’t... you don’t know...” 

“It’s coming from my heart.” Max had already laid his cards open, there was no reason to hide the rest of it. “I know it didn’t mean the same to you but I... I love you. I loved you when it was just us at the farm, I loved you when we fucked in that tent, I even loved you when you left me and-“ 

Suddenly Dan was kneeling next to Max’, his hands stretched out as if he wanted to cup Max’ face. “Oh, Maxy, I love you too, baby. I love you so much.” 

Max pressed his face into Dan’s hands and Dan took that as his consent to lean up and kiss him softly on the lips. Melting into it, Max hugged Dan, slowly sliding off the sofa and onto his knees too. 

“I’m so sorry, baby”, Dan whispered against his lips. “I’m so sorry I left you, I didn’t know you wanted me to stay, I thought when you rejected me that day at the barn, I thought you changed your mind and didn’t want to be with me...” 

“You idiot. Of course I want to be with you!” Max felt like crying, but for the first time in forever it were happy tears. Instead, he pressed his lips to Dan’s again until he absolutely had to take another breath. “Come home with me?” 

“Yes, of course, of course I will!” Dan pulled Max onto the sofa and hugged him properly, pulling Max onto his lap. “I actually dropped out of uni. For good. That’s why I’m staying here, I was trying to figure out what to do next. I wanted to come home so bad but-“

“Don’t worry about it anymore. Just, just come back.” Max let Dan kiss him at that, and their breathless kiss turned into a make out session where they just tried to be as close as possible. When Dan slid his hands under Max’ shirt, though, Lewis and Nico reappeared out of nowhere. 

“Uh-uh, no fucking on our sofa!”

“Unless it’s us”, Lewis added under his breath to Nico’s statement. 

Max and Dan jumped apart, and Nico looked mildly scandalised. “But I’m glad you worked this out! Just celebrate it somewhere else, please?” 

Max and Dan started laughing, the tension finally falling off of them. They had time. They could wait. They had the rests of their lives to celebrate their reunion and every single day they were getting to spend together. 

#

_a year later_

“I can’t believe I’m going to help a lamb into this world today!”, Lewis said in a dreamy voice. He was almost skipping instead of walking and ran through the upstairs hallway of the farmhouse past a row of photographs that included one of Max with a certain small black lamb and one of Max and Dan kissing while they were sitting on Dan’s quad. 

“I can’t believe you’re actually doing this”, Kimi replied, unimpressed. He was following Lewis downstairs in the hopes of someone else using the coffee machine first. There was something wrong with it, the coffee tasted like soap, but Dan and Max refused to look into it. It was weird. 

Lewis only shrugged and went off looking for Nico, or a lamb, or possibly both at once. 

Kimi was left alone on his way to the kitchen since Seb was still in the shower. He went to fight the coffee machine, but as soon as he entered the kitchen he turned back around. Max was sitting on the kitchen table with Dan standing in between his legs, kissing him passionately. 

“You realise people _eat from that table_?” Kimi’s voice was raised enough that it could actually be considered ‘shouting’. 

Max and Dan did not care about that. It was their kitchen table, they could do as they pleased on it. (And it pleased them very much.) 

Ever since Grace and Joe moved out into the guesthouse they’d run a bit wild with the farmhouse. Dan was intent on renovating the basement so they’d be able to turn it into a home gym, but Max thought that money was better invested in a home theatre. So they argued about it, and made plans, and made up, and then argued some more. 

They loved it. 

The sheep were doing well too. Max had bonded a lot with the black lamb, whose name was now Blackie. (Max had never claimed to be creative.) They’d also recently gotten a bunch of chickens and that herding dog puppy Dan always wanted. It was indeed a lot of work, even though it was a Border Collie that had already started its training as a working dog, but it was very different from the lazy bulldog photos Lewis regularly sent them. 

It was a good life, and they were glad that their friends had all come around to help out with the lambing season - this was the first year where Dan’s parents would not be helping. They deserved their retirement, and Dan had officially taken over the farm now. 

“You know I love you right”, Dan said when he stepped back a little. He needed to get some space in between him and Max or the next person to step foot into the kitchen would get even more of a shock than Kimi. 

“What did you do?” Max refused to let Dan go that easily and wrapped his legs around Dan’s waist, trying to pull him back in for another kiss. “Or where is the spider you want me to kill.” 

Pouting, Dan ran his hand through Max’ fringe. “There’s other reasons why I tell you I love you, you know?” 

Max narrowed his eyes and stole a quick kiss. “And those are?” 

“How about because I love you?” Dan smiled his most innocent smile and tugged a little on Max’ hair. He let his head lull back immediately, baring his throat to Dan as an invitation. Dan’s innocent smile turned into a predatory grin. 

“Love you too”, Max mumbled and moaned when Dan kissed and licked a hickey into the side of his neck. 

Content with his work, Dan pulled back and inspected the reddish bruise. “Tell me again.” 

“I love you, Dan.” 

“Fuck, I’ll never get tired of hearing that.” 

Max laughed. “You want me to make you breakfast, don’t you? An omelette?” 

Dan nodded and tried to get that innocent expression back on his face but his giant grin just refused to subside. “With our own eggs!” 

Jumping off the table to get the ingredients together, Max tasked Dan to figure out who else in the house wanted an omelette. When Dan came back with the answer (everyone wanted one, of course. Hungry bastards) Max had another idea waiting for him. 

“I think you should ask James to help you with that vegetable patch in the garden. I don’t want to go bother your mum again when the zucchini start a rebellion.” 

“Well look at you”, Seb interrupted them from the door. “Aren’t you just the spitting image of domestic bliss.” He smirked and came closer, looking for the omelette he had been promised. 

Lewis and Nico stumbled in through the back door, somehow pushing each other and tugging on each other’s clothes while also holding hands. “We heard there’s omelettes.” 

Dan nodded. “There is. Where’s Kimi?” 

“Went to get proper coffee instead of the soapy sludge you’re trying to poison us with”, Seb replied just before Kimi came back in, bringing Joe and Grace and Victoria along. She’d come by to visit her brother since Formula one was currently on winter break - matching the late winter lambing time in Western Australia perfectly. 

“Lovely.” Max tried to sound sarcastic, but really, it was lovely. He always said that lambing season was the second best thing about the year. The best thing was getting to spend every day with Dan. 

“Lovely it is”, Dan agreed, and Max smiled. He was happy, and so was everyone else in the room. There was nothing more he could want.~

**Author's Note:**

> I’m [shellhaeds on tumblr](https://shellhaeds.tumblr.com) <3


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